We harness the unique properties of bacteriocins, antimicrobial peptides naturally produced by bacteria, to engineer innovative genetic technologies that address some of the most pressing challenges in biotechnology and health. By leveraging our extensive PARAGEN collection, we design tailor-made solutions that combine scientific rigor, industrial scalability, and regulatory foresight.
Our technology portfolio is structured around three core applications:
- Antibiotic-free genetic selection – sustainable alternatives to antibiotic resistance markers for recombinant protein production.
- Precision contamination control – advanced systems that actively protect industrial bioprocesses from microbial contamination.
- Next-generation antimicrobials – novel bacteriocin-based molecules offering targeted strategies against resistant pathogens.
These three presentations provide a clear view of how Syngulon’s patented bacteriocin technologies move beyond conventional approaches to deliver regulatory compliance, improved productivity, and new therapeutic opportunities.
1) Antibiotic-free genetic selection
From basic cloning to large-scale biomanufacturing, ensuring that only cells carrying the desired genetic construct are maintained is essential. Traditional methods rely on antibiotic resistance markers but these are increasingly seen as a risk for both regulatory compliance and public health.
Syngulon has developed a patented antibiotic-free selection system based on bacteriocins. Our technology leverages their unique properties: bacteriocin-immunity pair. Cells carry the bacteriocin production genes on the plasmid to be maintained and secrete the bacteriocin in the medium, creating a selection pressure. To face this pressure, the plasmid also contains the immunity gene protecting the cells that maintain it while plasmid-free or contaminant cells are eliminated.
This approach offers multiple advantages over antibiotics:
- ✅ Regulatory compliance – eliminates resistance markers, fully aligned with FDA/EMA/USDA expectations.
- ✅ Improved productivity – bacteriocins are small peptides, imposing a lighter metabolic burden and enabling higher yields.
- ✅ Genetic stability – peer-police assures a continuous selection pressure through the whole process.
- ✅ Flexibility – 100% plasmid-based, applicable across standard coli strains without chromosomal modifications.
In short, Syngulon’s bacteriocin-immunity selection system provides a scalable, sustainable, and regulator-ready solution for recombinant protein and plasmid DNA production.
2) Precision contamination control
Microbial contamination is a universal challenge; it impacts mainly feed, food, biopharma, enzymes, biofuels, animal health, and any industry facing microbial contamination. Competing bacteria often grow faster than yeast or engineered strains, consuming substrates, producing inhibitory acids, and ultimately reducing yields by several percent —a significant impact at the production scale. Traditional solutions rely on antibiotics or harsh chemicals, both of which face increasing regulatory scrutiny and sustainability concerns.
Syngulon offers a novel contamination control strategy using bacteriocins. By integrating bacteriocin technology directly into production processes, we enable precision elimination of unwanted microbes without disrupting the performance of the host strain.
Key benefits include:
- ✅ Higher productivity – reduced substrate loss and better fermentation performance.
- ✅ Targeted action – bacteriocins act only on contaminant species, leaving production strains intact.
- ✅ Flexible implementation – can be applied through engineered host strains (e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae producing bacteriocins) or via direct addition of bacteriocin solutions.
With PARAGEN, the world’s largest collection of natural and synthetic bacteriocins, Syngulon can tailor solutions to specific industrial contaminants. This positions our technology as a sustainable and high-performance safeguard for any industry facing microbial contamination.
3) Next-generation antimicrobials
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is already one of the greatest health challenges, with more than 1 million deaths attributable to bacterial AMR. Traditional antibiotics are losing efficacy, and broad-spectrum approaches often disrupt the microbiome while accelerating resistance. The world urgently needs targeted, sustainable alternatives.
Syngulon is developing next-generation antimicrobials based on bacteriocins. Unlike antibiotics, bacteriocins can be highly specific, acting against resistant pathogens while sparing beneficial microbes.
Our approach leverages:
- ✅ Rational bacteriocin cocktails – combining bacteriocins to prevent resistance emergence.
- ✅ Precision medicine potential – tailored action against WHO priority pathogens.
- ✅ Extensive PARAGEN collection – >500 bacteriocins, enabling rapid identification of candidates with the right spectrum.
- ✅ Collaborative R&D model – from in vitro assays to in vivo studies, advancing with partners toward therapeutic applications.
With bacteriocins, Syngulon brings a new antimicrobial paradigm: one that combines scientific innovation, clinical relevance, and industrial scalability to meet the global bacterial AMR crisis.
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